Attention Florida homeowners who are currently in or are facing foreclosure:

QuickSale^SM has launched a massive nationwide campaign to help distressed homeowners seeking REAL solutions during these troubled times.

Linda Martignetti, with C-21 Tenace Realty Inc., is an affiliate of the QuickSale^SM program and is hosting a FREE consumer outreach seminar on Oct. 13 at the Forum Lodging and Conference Center located at 600 SW 3rd Street in Pompano Beach, Fla. (33060), from from 7 to 9 p.m.

In attendance will be experts who specialize in dealing with stressed and distressed homeowners.

The main purpose of this event will be to provide homeowners with the truth about topics such as loan modifications and the government’s role in this financial tsunami, as well as access points to service providers who can assist.

For more information about this and future events call us at QuickSale^SM (866) 202-8200 ext. 7110 or you can contact Linda at C-21 (www.floridahomesbylinda.com) or (954) 464-5434.

Don’t miss this opportunity to get free foreclosure assistance! Register today before it’s too late.

Several of Century 21’s top real estate agents from throughout the nation recently descended on the Westin Diplomat in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to participate in a training retreat.

Century 21 — the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization — recently selected Foreclosure.com Agent University to put a select group of industry professionals through its Certified Foreclosure Agent training program.

This is a career-building certification course designed specifically for individuals who are interested in foreclosures and expanding their business to include sales of Real Estate Owed (REO) properties, short sales and other distressed real estate.

All of the Century 21 agents who participated in the comprehensive learning experience were required to complete and pass an exam for each of the three topics presented receive their Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist” designation. For more background on the “Specialist” designation click here.

We had such a great group — many of agents flew in a day early and left a day late because of opportunity to travel to South Florida and, in the process, take home skills that will grow their businesses.

To learn more about the Certified Foreclosure Agent program click here. Broker owners and managers should contact us direct (866.382.4445) for more details on bulk pricing savings.

Dry cleaner. Electrical engineer. e-Trader.

These are just a handful of the different professions of the individuals who take me up on the invitation to learn the foreclosure and auction process.

Every time I take a class to the Palm Beach County Courthouse there is always something new to learn — there is never a dull day.

For example, this past week there was a property that was valued at $150,000 that went for $30,000. The bidding started at $12,000.

It’s because of deals like this that the crowds at the courthouse are beginning to grow. Savvy investor groups are sprouting everywhere. They understand that deals can be had and that now is the time to invest.

So what are you waiting for? You could be missing the deal of the century … or several of them.

Come see what you are missing by joining us for a free courthouse tour — we’re happy to show you around each week!

Linda Yates, Director of Education at Foreclosure.com, conducts FREE auction education classes at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. The class will teach you how to look up information on the properties for sale, then you will attend a live auction to see how the auction process works. To make a reservation for the class call 1-866-382-2439. You MUST have a reservation because class sizes are limited.

Foreclosure is unpleasant for several different reasons. Not only are homeowners forced out of their homes, but their credit scores suffer long after the banks repossess them.

In fact, a foreclosure can affect a credit score by as much as 250 to 280 points for up to seven years. That of course can become a major problem and inconvenience down the road when it comes to buying/leasing a car, renting a new place or even getting approved for a credit card.

It’s a horrible gift that, unfortunately, keeps on giving.

For the sake of comparison, short sales and deed-in-lieu are less of a drain on your credit. Short sales can affect a score by 80 to 100 points and deed-in-lieu is anywhere from 120 to 175. Clearly, it’s in homeowners’ best interests to try and short sale or sell their homes by some other means before losing them to foreclosure altogether.

The good news is that a credit score can never drop below “0.” It’s also always changing — when credit takes a ding for any reason time is a reliable ally that helps improve the rating.

Of course, a person needs to focus on doing the things that will not make a situation worse for a score to get better. The key to great credit is to be educated on how prompt payments and buying behaviors affect long- and short-range financial goals.

Nationwide consumer credit reporting companies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion allow one FREE credit file disclosure every 12 months. The first step, clearly, is finding out what your credit score is and the factors that went into it.

From that point on raising your credit score is like getting into shape — it takes some time and there is no quick fix. If you are having credit problems or would like to speak with a professional about how to best go about repairing your credit — especially if a foreclosure is involved — visit CreditLawGroup.com today.

Practice what you preach.

That’s the motto here at Foreclosure.com because it is impossible to run the most successful distressed real estate Web site on the Internet without everyone at every level having a firm understanding of the foreclosure process from the bottom up.

So it’s Thursday morning and instead of braving the commute south to our corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., I am headed east for the weekly “class trip” to the Palm Beach County Court House in West Palm Beach to provide Foreclosure.com staff members with a refresher course on the auction process.

It’s company policy that we offer this type of activity annually to introduce some of our new employees to the actual experience, as well as keep the topic fresh on the minds of our more experienced team members. From customer service to human resources to programming, all personnel types from every department at Foreclosure.com are invited to participate in the weekly excursions.

Let’s quickly take you through a typical day for us at the court house.

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